1974 World Bodybuilding Championships

Reported by Oscar StateGeneral Secretary, International Federation of Weightlifting;Secretary of the I.F.B.B. Judges Committee

Verona has a considerable historic background, dating from early Roman times
as its well-preserved coliseum testifies. It is also famed as the home of Romeo
and Juliet, the two lovers immortalized in Shakespeare's great play.

History of another kind was made there in September by the IFBB as delegates
from all continents of the world gathered for the 5th International Congress
where a new group of officials were to be elected and many rules to be changed.
It was a wonderful display of the democratic spirit that now pervades the work
of the IFBB under the watchful guidance of Ben Weider.

The ebullient president of the Italian Bodybuilding Federation, Franco Fassi
and the leader of the local organizing committee, Bruno Piccoli had done their
preparatory organization well. Here we should pay tribute to Franco for his
courage in personally financing the whole project. Unlike previous organizers,
he had no subvention from city, government or sponsor sources. Yet he remained
unfailingly cheerful throughout all phases of the intricate organization
required for accommodating the scores of delegates and visitors, setting up the
committee meetings, the congress, the contest and the entertainments. His
courage, enthusiasm and enterprise were well rewarded because the contest made
a tremendous impact on the public, the press, radio, television and the sports
authorities of Italy. ABC Television was there to record the highlights for
eventual world-wide distribution. The president of the weightlifting section
of the Italian Strength Sports Federation together with the president of the
Italian Karate Federation were appreciative observers. One of the satisfactory
consequences of their attendance was an agreement for full and close
cooperation between the IFBB and the other Italian federations in several
joint activities. Franco's well-produced IFBB magazine will also become official
journal for their sports as well as for bodybuilding. It gave me considerable
satisfaction to help in bringing these three groups together.

JUDGES COMMITTEE

Acting Chairman Dennis Stallard (Wales) and M. Hefzi (Egypt) were the only
original members in attendance, so Tom Ortega (Philippines) and I were co-opted
to help the committee to function effectively. We selected our seven judges for
the contest from all the nominations sent in by the national associations and
dealt with a complaint concerning the judging procedure at the Asian
championships.

EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

Ten people met for a long and fruitful meeting at the "Due Tori" hotel which
accommodated so well the IFBB top officials and other VIPs. Each item of the
agenda was fully discussed under the customary thorough leadership of IFBB
President Ben Weider. One of the thorniest problems was that of the membership
of Palestine and Ben produced a masterly solution which resulted in Palestine
not being affiliated, yet accepting the decision as just and correct.

Ben reported how his efforts to encourage the growth of the IFBB along
democratic lines had resulted in the setting up of regional federations in
Africa, the Caribbean and South America. As a result of these constitutional
moves more new countries were being affiliated. Serge Nubret, the
vice-president from France, was very pleased with the democratic decision that
Guadeloupe and Martinique could compete in the Caribbean contests, even thought
their political ties with France did not give them full Caribbean status.

The Executive Council had no hesitation in accepting the list of patrons
proposed by Ben:- Joe Weider USA, John Ong Singapore, Marc Hankard Belgium,
General Rana Pakistan and myself.

IFBB CONGRESS

A Magnificent attendance of 65 delegates from 31 countries who crammed the
spacious Palazzo Gran Gardia was clear evidence of the importance of the
occasion. As Ben so rightly pointed out in his opening remarks, which were
simultaneously translated into three languages, it was a historic congress
because of the elections four years after the first election congress in
Belgrade and because of the important changes in constitution and rules to be
voted upon. He was loudly applauded for his comment: "The beautiful thing about
this congress is that in spite of all the trouble and strife in the world at
the present time, we are able to meet here as sporting brothers. If the
politicians would only leave politics to the sportsmen, perhaps we would have
less trouble in the world."

A feature of Ben's presidential address was the number of letters from
important personages and sports leaders from which he quoted, including the
President of the United Stated Gerald Ford, president of the IOC Olympic Games
Programme Committee Dr. Arpad Csanadi, the Director of the IOC Madame Monique
Berlioux, the Director General of the International Health Foundation, the
Secretary General of, the American Amateur Athletic Federation Don Porter, the
Chairman of the AU-Sports Federation of the People's Republic of China and many
others. As Ben justifiably said, all these were evidence of the development of
bodybuilding throughout the world and the widening scope and influence of the
IFBB.

Long and detailed reports from the IFBB vice-presidents and other national
delegates were substantial proof of the ever increasing activities of the IFBB.
These were followed by the Committee reports, all unanimously accepted and
approved by the congress. Four new countries were affiliated, bringing the total
membership of the IFBB up to the imposing total of 87:- Afganistan, Australia,
Guyana, St. Vincent.

The delegates did not compliantly accept everything presented but were
independent and honest enough to oppose any measures or propositions that did
not appear in the best interests of the IFBB.

ELECTIONS

With 30 officers to be elected, this part of congress took some time, since
quite a few posts had several rival candidates. Ben Weider was elected Life
President at the inaugural election congress in Belgrade but had refused to
accept such an appointment. He now stood for re-election in the same way as
other officials. I need hardly say that he was elected unopposed with the same
prolonged acclamation as before.

Now that the IFBB has achieved universal recognition in official sporting
circles, the honour of being one of its officers is being eagerly sought after,
because of the growing prestige attached to each position. Also elected
unopposed were a few of the vice-presidents:- Europe-Serge Nubret (France),
South America-L. Martinez (Brazil), North America-Tom Minichiello (USA) and
General Secretary-Winston Roberts (Canada) as were the chairmen of the various
committees:- Judges-Dennis Stallard (Wales), Technical-Milan Cabric (Yugoslavia),
Medical-Ernst Jokl (USA) and their secretaries:- Judges-Oscar State (England),
Technical-Mrs. Mara Cabric (Yugoslavia), Medical-Larry Golding (USA).

There were two main rivals for the much coveted position of Senior
Vice-president. The former holder of the post Malih Alaywan (Lebanon) had to
yield to Serge Nubret who has become so well-known because of his photos in all
the bodybuilding magazines as well as through his film and television
appearances. He will undoubtedly be a great ambassador for the IFBB in his
future travels around the world.

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION

Ben and I had carefully prepared several pages of amendments to the first
constitution with the object of improving and clarifying the statutes and rules.
So carefully had these been prepared with such obvious benefits to the IFBB that
everyone was passed with complete unanimity. Undoubtedly the most important of
these was the brand new definition of an amateur and here the IFBB demonstrated
its advanced and up-to-date thinking. Its new rule anticipated almost word for
word the new rule on amateur eligibility adopted by the International Olympic
Committee at their congress in Vienna three weeks later.

SCHEDULE OF CONTESTS

Another proof of the widening and progressive activity of the IFBB was the
long list of contests allocated to all parts of the world for various regions
and continents extending right up to 1978. The "Mr. Universe" contest will go to
South Africa in 1975, USA in 1976 as part of the USA Bicentennial Celebrations,
Guadeloupe in 1977 and to the Philippines in 1978. "Mr. Olympia" is also going
international and is being combined with the "Mr. Universe" shows.

The congress concluded with the usual distribution of IFBB certificates of
merit to the many delighted and honoured recipients and with exchanges of gifts
between the delegates, bringing to a happy close another great occasion, marking
still further progress in the history of the IFBB.

THE "MR. UNIVERSE" CONTEST

The judging was arranged in the theatre where the show was to be held later.
The "Teatro Nuovo" is preserved as a national monument in Verona, being a
perfect example of classic theatre design with its plush seats, galleries and
boxes, high auditorium, imposing proscenium and vast stage, a fitting setting
for the great show.

The competitors posed on the stage under the firm control of judges chairman
Dennis Stallard whose meticulous preparation of the judges score sheets allowed
us to proceed without any undue delays. I had to change a few contestants from
one height class to another after the rigorous height measurement routine which
preceded the issue of contest numbers, but this did not present any problems and
the small men's class was soon on the stage.

The overall standard in the IFBB contests gets higher every year, but as
usual there were three or four men in each class who caught the eye as possible
winners. Among the small men the stand-outs were Bertagna, Italy with
shoulders wide enough for a heavy weight weightlifter and a chest to match. It
was a pity he did not have legs to match and that weak point set him back in
third place. Belgium had two fine entries - Hubert Plumans and the evergreen
veteran Pierre van den Steen. Plumans had excellent symmetry and a harmonius
development with no noticeable flaws. However his posing routine was rather
stiff and stilted and the points he lost in that round dropped him into fourth
place. Van den Steen had the most marvelous definition I have seen in years and
since it was allied with impressive bulk and superb proportional development in
all body parts he really looked a winner. In contrast was the bronzed, superbly
fit, lithe young athlete from Egypt, Mohamed El Makkawy. Not bulky but with
well shaped musculature which he displayed to perfection in a really great
posing routine. He finished in second place, just one point behind Van den
Steen and will be a great threat next year.

The medium height class had two who stood out immediately. Handsome Bob
Birdsong, USA, his skin glowing under his California tan, looked immense with
great curves of muscle bunching on his shoulders and torso. He looked a sure
winner until we saw A. Enunlu, Turkey who had always placed high in previous
contests. His improvement was at once apparent. On a perfectly proportioned
frame he had built an equally well proportioned muscular mass with needle sharp
definition. Eventually his greater harmony of proportion and more cut up muscles
gave him the nod over Birdsong who had developed his muscular bulk at the
expense of definition and proportion. Enunlu scored higher in both rounds, his
posing routine being more polished and rhythmic than Birdsong's. I am sure the
American will have learned from this defeat and will correct his weakness next
time. France's best amateur bodybuilder L. Cesarion (what rock-hard, chiselled
abdominals that man has!) collected good scores in both rounds to place third.

I was amazed at the huge entry in the tall man class which in most contests
rarely exceeds a dozen entries. No fewer than 21 were entered in Verona and a
magnificent sight they made as they paraded onto the stage. Wide though the
stage was, I had quite a problem to arrange all these massive athletes in a
single line for the judges scrutiny.

Naturally I looked first over last year's winner Lou Ferrigno USA. "Better
than last year" was my immediate reaction. His huge frame was packed with solid
muscle, every part sharply defined and blending into a wonderful harmony of
form. It was impossible to spot any deficiency. How about Ken Waller, last
year's runner-up? He had also improved tremendously. He was bulkier, his legs
being particularly outstanding. Yet he had the same fine chiselling on his
torso, arms, back and thighs. Again it was impossible to detect a weakness.

Newcomer Paul Grant, Wales, who had won many important titles back home in
Britain, was called forward many times by the judges to stand in comparison with
Ferrigno and Waller. Lacking in complete shoulder development in comparison with
a rather thick waist, Paul could not match the other two and finished third. It
was no disgrace because he was still miles ahead of the rest of that class.

After the first round Ferrigno was only one point ahead of Waller but when he
went to town with his greatly improved posing routine which displayed his
amazing bulk and muscularity to its supreme advantage, he outscored Waller and
took the first step to ultimate victory by winning his class.

That night, as the climax to the show, the three class winners posed together
for the finale. The theatre was packed solid with an overflow crowd and hundreds
more disappointed fans left outside. The pose-down went on and on to a rising
roar of appreciation of such a magnificent spectacle. Three perfectly
proportioned athletes were displaying three very different physiques but each
with imposing bulk, incredible definition and harmonius proportions. But Ferrigno
completely dominated the other two because of the sheer impact of his huge bulk
so evenly and harmoniously proportioned in a living sculpture.

After the judges unanimous vote for him as overall winner of the "Mr.
Universe" title was announced the roars of applause rose to a crescendo when
Ben Weider presented Lou with his magnificent trophy as he stood proudly on the
winner's rostrum, the first man to win the "Mr. Universe" title two years in
succession. History was indeed made again in historic old Verona.

IFBB BULLETINS:

We wish to advise the national federations that the undermentioned athletes
are under LIFE SUSPENSION:

F. LABRADOR, France
R. WAYNE, West Indies

In accordance with our constitution, neither of these athletes may in the
future:

Give an exhibition at any contest held anywhere in the world by any member of
our federation.

Participate in any contest, either amateur or professional, organized by our
federation.

Have anything to do with the national federations, or hold any position
within any national federation.

The suspension is mandatory on all national federations, effective immediately.
Any federation that violates this suspension will become subject to disciplinary
action as permitted by the Constitution of the I.F.B.B.

We look forward to your usual cooperation in such matters. Solidarity is the
only way to keep our federation strong.

Ben WeiderInternational President

WITHDRAWAL OF AFFILIATION FROM MEXICO

In accordance with a decision taken by the Executive Council of the I.F.B.B. on
October 4, 1974, during the meeting in Verona, Italy, and ratified the following
day by the International Congress of the I.F.B.B., the affiliation of Mexico was
withdrawn.

All federations are requested to immediately cease any official correspondence
and sports activities with:

Mr. Ed Silvestre
Rio Balsas 6
Tijuana B.C., Mexico

When the new federation in Mexico has been formed, we will advise you of the
new name and address.

- The American contingent of Lou Ferrigno, Bob Birdsong, Franco Columbu (Special Guest Star) and Ken Waller pause before entering the IFBB World Congress along with Franco Fassi (next to Columbu), President of the Italian Bodybuilding Federation, and two of his aids. The USA again won the team championship.